You keep using that word...
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<rant>Does anyone else notice when people some words / phrases when it just doesn't apply to the sentence / conversation? I'm not even talking about buzzwords (which are a in their own right), but common things... I'll start with my pet peeve example...
"Obviously"
People have practically replaced the misuse of "literally" with "obviously". I work with a couple of devs / PMs / sales people, and most of them drop the word "obviously" when trying to describe something that's less than obvious.
If it were obvious, then there's no need to explain the concept. Or is it just to make the listener seem dumb and the speaker seem intelligent?
</rant>What else do you guys / gals / people encounter in this topic? I don't use "obviously", but maybe you can point out others which I would notice in my own way of speaking
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Beg the question.
It doesn't mean "raise the question", it means "assume your conclusion to prove your conclusion". Basically a form of circular reasoning.
Mixing up "then" and "than". "I prefer to have sex then have a wank" means something completely different if you get it wrong
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"Aggravate".
Doesn't mean "make something bad".
It means "make something more".
From the Latin gravis meaning "heavy". You "aggravate" something, you increase its weight, thus making it heavier. The opposite is "alleviate", which means "make something less".
The same pair of words also give us "gravity" (the heaviness of a thing) and its opposite "levity" (the lightness of a thing), both of which can be used metaphorically as in "the gravity of a situation".
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Ironically and coincidentally seem to be interchangeable these days also.
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@AgentDenton said in You keep using that word...:
Does anyone else notice when people some words / phrases when it just doesn't apply to the sentence / conversation? I'm not even talking about buzzwords (which are a in their own right), but common things... I'll start with my pet peeve example...
revert back to me if you have any problems with this sentence....
(and this is from native english speakers, not esl)
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One that amuses me is when people have been told not to use "X and me", because "X and I" is the correct form, but they never pick up that it's exactly the same as if there was no X.
So "X and I went to the cinema" is correct, "that car belongs to X and I" makes you sound like you're trying to appear smart and failing
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@all_users said in You keep using that word...:
revert back to me if you have any problems with this sentence
I have a doubt.
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@AgentDenton said in You keep using that word...:
Does anyone else notice when people some words / phrases when it just doesn't apply to the sentence / conversation?
The hard truth is languages evolve and some day the words will have a different meaning whether you it or not.
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@FrostCat what if it is a general uncertainty with the wording that cannot be expressed by the person with doubt because they don't know why part of their brain suggests it looks wrong?
I'll agree there is an implied question but the question has no form and if it has no form, is it still a question?
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@AgentDenton said in You keep using that word...:
People have practically replaced the misuse of "literally" with "obviously". I work with a couple of devs / PMs / sales people, and most of them drop the word "obviously" when trying to describe something that's less than obvious.
If it were obvious, then there's no need to explain the concept. Or is it just to make the listener seem dumb and the speaker seem intelligent?
I ran across that several times at university. Usually from the professor, yes, for you it's obvious. For the rest of us in Physics 101, not yet, no.
Among the hate list were also such phrases as:
"It's plain to see that..."
"The trivial solution..." (I consider "zero(0)" to be a trivial solution. Something that's more than 20 characters long is not a trivial solution)And the absolute top of the list:
"After a short transformation, we can easily see..." The transformations never were what I'd consider short. And it also wasn't easy to see.
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@Zecc said in You keep using that word...:
The hard truth is languages evolve and some day the words will have a different meaning whether you it or not.
Yes, obviously we can also literally words.
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@da-Doctah said in You keep using that word...:
"Aggravate".
Doesn't mean "make something bad".
It means "make something more".
From the Latin gravis meaning "heavy". You "aggravate" something, you increase its weight, thus making it heavier. The opposite is "alleviate", which means "make something less".
The same pair of words also give us "gravity" (the heaviness of a thing) and its opposite "levity" (the lightness of a thing), both of which can be used metaphorically as in "the gravity of a situation".
Aw, but the 'bad/troublesome/annoying' aspect was applied to it back in Latin:
Your break down is only the literal break down.
It'd be like saying burrito doesn't mean a Mexican dish of rice, beans, and other fixings wrapped in a tortilla. But instead means "small donkey", because it literally translates to "small donkey". It's a burrito because it's a small carrier of many foods... a burro often used to carry goods. As with aggravare, you're being weighted down with burden... it's metaphorical.
This choice of using similar words to mean new things is common in our languages.
Anxious comes from the latin for 'choke or squeeze', because when anxious you feel like you're being choked or squeezed. And again, picked up this meaning back in Latin, not contemporarily.
But my all time favourite!Cynic
It literally translates to 'dog-like'. The cynics were being made fun of basically... Diogenes was being called an annoying sneering little shit.
(sorry, I love etymology)
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@Arantor said in You keep using that word...:
what if it is a general uncertainty with the wording that cannot be expressed by the person with doubt because they don't know why part of their brain suggests it looks wrong?
You would probably know that from context. "I have a doubt" is something Indian people say when they mean "I have a question".
I don't think I have ever heard a native left-pondian English speaker say "I have a doubt". It's just not a turn of phrase we use--I would probably say "I doubt that" with the object of the sentence inferred from context, if I ever uttered a sentence with the word "doubt" in it. I don't know what you right-pondians do.
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@Arantor said in You keep using that word...:
I'll agree there is an implied question but the question has no form and if it has no form, is it still a question?
Every time I've heard an Indian speaker say that, it was clear, as I suggested in my previous reply, from context, that they meant "I have a question about [whatever we were talking about]". Alternatively it could mean "I don't understand, could you please explain it" but that seems less likely.
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@FrostCat us right pondians are much the same.
I guess I don't see it so much as I have an Indian team leader and now I think about it, you're entirely correct.
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@Rhywden my maths proofs at uni would have been pages longer without the use of "similarly..."
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@Jaloopa Oh really ... I seen quite a few proofs that had the word in it. I did Engineering though and we used j instead of i .. so I know we are heathens.
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@Rhywden said in You keep using that word...:
@AgentDenton said in You keep using that word...:
People have practically replaced the misuse of "literally" with "obviously". I work with a couple of devs / PMs / sales people, and most of them drop the word "obviously" when trying to describe something that's less than obvious.
If it were obvious, then there's no need to explain the concept. Or is it just to make the listener seem dumb and the speaker seem intelligent?
I ran across that several times at university. Usually from the professor, yes, for you it's obvious. For the rest of us in Physics 101, not yet, no.
Among the hate list were also such phrases as:
"It's plain to see that..."
"The trivial solution..." (I consider "zero(0)" to be a trivial solution. Something that's more than 20 characters long is not a trivial solution)And the absolute top of the list:
"After a short transformation, we can easily see..." The transformations never were what I'd consider short. And it also wasn't easy to see.
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@lordofduct said in You keep using that word...:
Cynic
Online Etymology Dictionary
It literally translates to 'dog-like'. The cynics were being made fun of basically... Diogenes was being called an annoying sneering little shit.
(sorry, I love etymology)(wtf quote left as is)
Trivial Pursuit question: What animal inspired the name of the Canary Islands?
Answer: dogs. The bird owes its name to the islands.
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@AgentDenton said in You keep using that word...:
when people some words / phrases
@Zecc said in You keep using that word...:
whether you it or not.
@lucas1 said in You keep using that word...:
I seen
Are you guys this on purpose?
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@Gąska hahaahahahaha
Well spotted
It does prove my other theory which states that proofreading is a dying art
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@Gąska I did, but I can't for others.
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@FrostCat said in You keep using that word...:
I don't think I have ever heard a native left-pondian English speaker say "I have a doubt". It's just not a turn of phrase we use--I would probably say "I doubt that"
I have heard, and probably said, "I have [{some,my}] doubts about ..." to mean, "I am sceptical about ..."
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@Jaloopa said in You keep using that word...:
my maths proofs at uni would have been pages longer without the use of "similarly..."
That and "wlog". Knowing when you can get away with it... that's the trick.
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@HardwareGeek said in You keep using that word...:
@FrostCat said in You keep using that word...:
I don't think I have ever heard a native left-pondian English speaker say "I have a doubt". It's just not a turn of phrase we use--I would probably say "I doubt that"
I have heard, and probably said, "I have [{some,my}] doubts about ..." to mean, "I am sceptical about ..."
Sure--the point being you probably don't hear people having a doubt.
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@FrostCat Yes, either a verb, a plural noun, or uncountable noun.
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@Zecc said in You keep using that word...:
The hard truth is languages evolve and some day the words will have a different meaning whether you it or not.
you accidentally a word on purpose here, didn't you?
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@all_users said in You keep using that word...:
revert back to me if you have any problems with this sentence....
Did I used to be you, and now I ought to go back to being you?
I find it a little irritating when people use 'rights' when they mean 'privileges', and 'privilege' instead of 'bias', although these usually come up in politics.I find it slightly amusing when people misuse common abbreviations, e.g. "i.e.", "e.g.", "etc.", etc.
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@djls45 said in You keep using that word...:
I find it slightly amusing when people misuse common abbreviations, e.g. "i.e.", "e.g.", "etc.", etc.
I find it amusing when they say them out loud: “… what they could do is, ee gee …” How about just saying “for example”‽ Or, for that matter, “England vee Wales."
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@Gurth said in You keep using that word...:
@djls45 said in You keep using that word...:
I find it slightly amusing when people misuse common abbreviations, e.g. "i.e.", "e.g.", "etc.", etc.
I find it amusing when they say them out loud: “… what they could do is, ee gee …” How about just saying “for example”‽ Or, for that matter, “England vee Wales."
I think they should translate all of them, but still abbreviate the English versions. So "e.g." becomes "f.e." (or the occasionally seen "frex").
And "i.e." becomes "that is to say", or "t.i.t.s." for short.
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@da-Doctah said in You keep using that word...:
And "i.e." becomes "that is to say", or "t.i.t.s." for short.
I am so adopting this.
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@da-Doctah said in You keep using that word...:
I think they should translate all of them, but still abbreviate the English versions.
This is what sensible languages do (for example in Dutch: “bijvoorbeeld” → “b.v."), and in fact what I’ve occasionally seen native speakers of those languages do when writing English. Mostly German-speakers, come to think of it, using “f.i.” for “for instance."
@da-Doctah said in You keep using that word...:
And "i.e." becomes "that is to say", or "t.i.t.s." for short.
I second this suggestion.